South Shore choreographer pays homage to Bob Fosse

“I’m trying to give homage to Bob Fosse because he created a style,” said Sally Ashton Forrest, resident choreographer at The Company Theatre, which is staging “Chicago” April 5-28. “To even attempt to create what he did is very exciting.”...

Over two decades as a choreographer, Sally Ashton Forrest has created dances for dozens of musicals. But Bob Fosse, whose choreography defines the musical “Chicago,” is among her favorite. “I’m trying to give homage to Bob Fosse because he created a style,” said Forrest, resident choreographer at The Company Theatre, which is staging “Chicago” April 5-28. “To even attempt to create what he did is very exciting.”

But Forrest also loves the work of Rob Marshall, who choreographed the film version of “Chicago."

“I’m trying to get bits and pieces of both styles to make the show fresher,” said Forrest, 48, of Weymouth. “The movie made it possible to break from the traditional Bob Fosse and have a little more freedom.”

Forrest continues the precise, stylized, sultry, smooth and seductive Fosse style. But she leaves her mark by adding more tango in the song “Cell Block Tango” to heighten the tension and animosity; more spinning and jumping in “Razzle Dazzle” to convey the craziness of the courtroom scene; and more moves from the Charleston and other dances of the 1920s to evoke the Prohibition era of the story.

She leaves untouched “Hot Honey Rag,” a dance by former prisoners Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart at the end of the show, when they are free and preparing an act together.

“To me, it’s iconic so I had to create it just the way it was,” she said. “Whenever I see “Chicago,” I am waiting for that number.”

Set in the Prohibition era, “Chicago” satirizes judicial corruption and celebrity criminals. It’s the story of Roxie Hart, an unfaithful married nightclub dancer who murders her lover, a tale based on Chicago murder trials in the 1920s. Roxie gets acquitted and becomes a celebrity after a slick defense lawyer wows the jury and press.

The show’s enduring popularity – and multiple Tony Awards – stems not just from the Fosse dances, but the music and lyrics of John Kander and Fred Ebb. Regularly performed in Greater Boston, “Chicago” is always timely, because it reflects an unchanging aspect of human nature.

“People spin their stories for their own betterment and find fame for their crimes through the press,” Forrest said.

In creating dances, Forrest starts by thinking about the intention of the song and watching interpretations by other choreographers. From that, she works out her ideas and then tries them out with the dancers.

“That’s where you change things, because either it doesn’t look like what you thought it would or it sparks another idea,” she said.

Page 2 of 2 - A fourth degree black belt instructor, she finds those skills helpful for stage combat as well as complicated staging involving many people.

“The structure and discipline of it helps me organize people fast and move large numbers of people across the stage,” she said.

From her days as a student at Notre Dame Academy and then Emerson College, Forrest dreamed of Broadway, but ultimately her strong connection to The Company Theatre kept her on the South Shore. She first performed with the theatre in 1980 at age 15 and became the company’s choreographer in 1992.

“I said in high school that I just wanted to wake up in the morning and do theatre all day,” Forrest said. “When I’m exhausted, I remind myself that I got my wish.”

“Chicago” runs April 5-28 at The Company Theatre, Accord Park, Norwell. Tickets are $36. For information, go to www.companytheatre.com.